European festivals Association

Since 2009 every year in May, Barnes Crossing - Freiraum für Tanz | Performance | Kunst in Cologne realises the annual SoloDuo Festival nrw + friends. 18 to 22 short choreographies of 6 min. for a solo and 9 min. for a duo from Europe and abroad can be seen during 2 days. A framing programme offers different formats for the participants, jury and interested visitors to exchange, discover and connect, which is an important tool, especially for upcoming artists. The festival supports internationally networked work and at the same time promotes professional exchange among the participating dance artists. The KunstSalon Stiftung / Cologne kindly donates the prize money. Thus, an independent international jury awards five prizes in the categories Solo, Duo, Solo Newcomer, Duo Newcomer and Performer. The winners of each prize are invited to the International Szóló Duó Tánc Festivál in Budapest in Hungary and in addition, two selected productions are invited to the Almada International Dance Festival in Portugal in October 2024. 

Barnes Crossing e.V. is a self-managed, professional production and event space for contemporary dance and performing arts, an association of 7 professional dance and performance artists representing a broad spectrum of performing arts with strong roots in contemporary dance based on a collective and grassroots democratic structure. The team is predominantly female and consists of people from different generations, people with and without disabilities, international and queer people. We offer diverse people, who otherwise often have to fight for a voice and recognition, an open and non-discriminatory creative space. As a group, the members deal with these disciplines in a differentiated way as a form of expression and knowledge as well as in mediation formats. Each member dances, performs, choreographs, collaborates and/or curates in national and international contexts. To this end, Barnes Crossing maintains, organises and manages 2 studios in the Wachsfabrik art centre, one of which can also be used as a performance venue for dance. This is made possible by conceptual funding from the city of Cologne, structural funding from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, various foundations (project-related) and income from renting out the studios and donations. 

Barnes Crossing values creative freedom for the independent scene and low-threshold access to professional production conditions for debut works, young ensembles, interdisciplinary projects and artistic experiments. The success of the production centre is reflected in the high standard of the productions created and in the numerous awards won by the plays and artists. 

Association members at the beginning of 2024 are: Sonia Franken - El Cuco Projekt | Theresa Hupp - SONDERSAMMLUNG | Gerda König - DIN A 13 tanzcompany | Andrea Lucas - WOLKENSTEIN | Ilona Pászthy - IPtanz | Gitta Roser - cie.nomoreless | Saskia Rudat - S. Rudat & sächsische schweiz kollektiv.

DIN A 13 tanzcompany is one of the world’s few dance ensembles, in which the members consist of dancers with and without physical disabilities. Since 1995, DIN A 13 tanzcompany and its artistic director and choreographer, Gerda König, from 1999 to 2020 in collaboration with choreographer Gitta Roser, have enriched the dance world with new aesthetic categories that constantly challenge and question customary viewing habits in contemporary dance. Assumed boundaries and assessments between physical distinctions on the one hand and excellence in dance on the other are dissipated in choreographic images that ask provocative questions and prompt artistic dialogue. This creative work spotlights the investigation and visualisation of the quality of movement of "other bodies", an aspect with a diversity that is enlisted for choreographic work that broadens this element and enriches the spectrum of contemporary dance in the process. More info.